WHAT’S HAPPENING…the WWU softball team returns to action this week with a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader at Simon Fraser on Thursday, starting at 5 pm in Burnaby.

DOWN THE STRETCH…there are three weeks remaining in the regular season prior to the conference championship May 4-6 in Lacey…the Vikings have 14 games remaining, and will play 12 games over a 9-day stretch (8 in Bellingham) to close out the season (April 21-29).

GNAC STANDINGS…with three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Vikings are tied for 4th place in the conference with a 7-7 record…the top 4 teams in the standings advance to the GNAC Championships with the automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championships on the line…of WWU’s final 14 games, 10 area against schools with a sub-.500 record in GNAC play.

THE RECORD…the Vikings are 18-15 overall and tied for 4th place in the GNAC with a 7-7 record…have gone 4-4 at home, 8-6 on the road and 5-5 in neutral site games…7-2 in games decided by 2 or fewer runs…recorded a GNAC-best 9 shutouts (7 individual).

LOOKING AHEAD…following Thursday’s doubleheader in Burnaby, the Vikings will host 8 consecutive home games at Viking Field…Western Oregon will play back-to-back doubleheaders in Bellingham April 21-22 (Friday-Saturday), followed by Concordia visiting Bellingham on April 23 (Sunday)…SFU and WWU will make up their rained out DH from March 26 on April 25 (Tuesday).

GNAC STANDINGS…the Vikings are tied for 4th place in the GNAC heading into this week’s action…here is a look the GNAC standings heading into this week’s action…the top 4 teams advance to play in the GNAC Championships May 4-6 in Lacey (host: Saint Martin’s).

SOFTBALL

CONF

PCT

OVERALL

PCT

HOME

AWAY

NEUTRAL

STREAK

Central Washington

14-2

.875

27-7

.794

7-1

6-1

14-5

Lost 1

Saint Martin's

8-6

.571

16-12

.571

7-3

2-7

8-1

Won 1

Northwest Nazarene

9-7

.563

19-19

.500

6-6

7-5

6-8

Won 2

Western Washington

7-7

.500

18-15

.545

4-4

8-6

6-5

Won 1

Montana State Billings

8-8

.500

14-23

.378

3-1

5-11

6-11

Won 1

Concordia

5-11

.313

13-22

.371

6-6

2-6

5-10

Won 1

Western Oregon

3-7

.300

16-15

.516

0-0

10-10

6-5

Lost 2

Simon Fraser

4-10

.286

8-22

.267

2-6

6-8

0-8

Lost 1

SHUTOUTS….WWU has recorded 9 shutouts this season, including 4 of the Vikings last 6 wins…half of WWU’s wins this season (9 of 18) have been shutouts…already surpassed the one shutout recorded during the 2016 season, and the 9 shutouts are tied for 6th-most in program history and the most since 10 in 2003…single-season record is 14 in 1996 and 1999…here is a listing of the most shutouts in a season in program history:

MOST SHUTOUTS

1.

14 - 1996

14 - 1999

3.

12 - 2000

12 - 2001

5.

10 - 2003

6.

9 - 2017

9 - 2002

8.

8 - 2010

9.

7 - 2011

7 - 1998

7 - 2004

HOME RUN RECORD...junior first baseman Emily Bensonis 4th in the GNAC with 9 home runs…set WWU’s all-time career home run record earlier this season with her 23rd career home run (previous record was 22 HR by Meghan Flem)…15th in GNAC history with 28 home runs.

WWU CAREER HOME RUNS

1.

28

Benson, Emily

2015-

2.

22

Flem, Meghan

2007-10

3.

21

Levin, Alexie

2013-16

4.

19

Walley, Jordan

2013-16

5.

16

Bickar, Krista

2009-12

BENSON’S BATTING…Emily Bensonis batting .447 (38-for-85) with 29 runs, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs and 29 RBI in 33 games…amongst Division II leaders ranks 8th in on-base percentage (.570), 9th in slugging percentage (.853) and 40th in batting average…also ranks 6th in the nation with 0.82 walks per game (27 total walks)…leads the GNAC with a 1.455 OPS…has reached base safely in 30 of 33 games this season (via hit in 25 of 33 games).

TRACKING THE RECORD BOOKS…if the season ended today, the .447 batting average by Emily Benson would set the single-season program record (min. 80 AB)…only 7 players have finished a season batting .400 or higher in WWU history, last by Meghan Carrillo (.432/38-for-88) and Alexie Levin (.424/53-for-139) in 2014...Benson’s current slugging percentage (.871) and on-base percentage (.584) are also currently on pace to set the WWU single-season mark.

RICHARDS NAMED GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK…junior Carlie Richards was named the GNAC Player of the Week for April 3-9…she batted .583 (7-for-12) with 3 runs scored, 1 double, 2 home runs and 5 RBI in 4 games last week…for the season is batting .407 (22-for-54) in 21 games (19 GS) and .462 (12-for-26) in 9 GNAC contests…has an active streak of reaching base safely in 20 consecutive games.

KASNER’S K’S…freshman pitcher Anna Kasneris 10-5 with a 2.84 ERA (40 ER, 98.2 IP)…has recorded 138 strikeouts to lead the GNAC and rank 16th in the nation…also ranks 6th in NCAA II with 9.79 strikeouts per 7.0 innings…has 6 starts with 10+ strikeouts, including a trio of 13-strikeout performances…138 strikeouts are 5th-most in WWU single-season history…5 shutouts are tied for 5th-most in a season by a WWU player…in GNAC play is 6-1 with a 3.07 ERA (20 ER, 45.2 IP) with 3 shutouts and 62 strikeouts (9.50 K/7.0 IP).

WWU Single-Season Strikeouts

1.

290 - Quint,Erika - 2011

2.

175 - Quint,Jackie - 2007

3.

155 - Quint,Jackie - 2006

4.

148 - Quint,Erika - 2010

5.

138 - Kasner,Anna - 2017

SERIES HISTORY…a brief look at the series history between WWU and Simon Fraser:

Simon Fraser: The Vikings trail the all-time series vs. the Clan 30-55-1, but have won 12 of the last 13…WWU won 3 of 4 last season, with SFU’s win on Feb. 28 snapping a 12-game Western winning streak in the series…WWU is 9-32 all-time in Burnaby, but has won 5 of last 6.

DUAL THREAT…sophomore pitcher/third baseman Shearyna Labasanhas been a key player for the Vikings – in the circle, at the plate and in the field…Labasan is 6-5 with a 2.92 ERA (33 ER, 79.0 IP) in the circle and is batting .340 (36-for-106) with 19 runs, 8 doubles and 9 RBI…tied for the team with 11 multi-hit games…started 13 games at third base and batted leadoff in 28 of WWU’s 33 games…in GNAC play is batting .349 (15-for-43) with 12 runs scored and 4 doubles.

THE BATS…ranks 4th in the GNAC with a team batting average of .302 (265-for-878)…5th in slugging percentage (.437) and 4th in on-base percentage (.376)…7th in the conference with a .299 average with runners in scoring position (90-for-301)…recorded 10+ hits in 11 games (7 of last 16).

THE ARMS…rank 2nd in the GNAC with a team ERA of 3.62 (111 ER, 214.2 IP)…leads the league with a .261 opponent batting average…holds a sizeable lead in the conference with 202 strikeouts, with 2nd place (MSUB) at 133 K’s…139 runs allowed are the 4th-fewest in the GNAC.

THE GLOVES…rank 3rd in the GNAC with a .959 fielding percentage…made 37 errors in 897 total chances…2nd-fewest errors committed amongst the eight league teams (Saint Martin’s – 35)…committed one or fewer errors in 16 of last 22 games (11 error-free games during stretch)…when making 1 or fewer errors are 17-7, compared to 1-8 when making 2+ errors.

NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK…freshman Anna Kasnerhas been named the Louisville/Slugger NFCA Division II National Pitcher of the Week twice this season, March 8 and Feb. 8…Kasner joins teammate Emily Benson(3/30/16) as the only WWU players to earn the national weekly award in program history…Kasner has also won a pair of GNAC Pitcher of the Week honors (same dates as national award) and Benson was named GNAC player of the Week for Feb. 6-12.

BENSON’S CAREER CHARTS…Emily Bensonhas moved up to the No. 3 spot in school history with a .352 batting average (129-for-366) in 123 career games…also 1st in slugging percentage (.648), 2nd in on-base percentage (.440), 2nd in extra-base hits (51) and T3rd in RBI (104).

KALI’S AVERAGE…senior Kali Pattersonranks 8th in program history with a .339 career batting average (154-for-457)…she hit .377 (63-for-167) last season while earning Second Team All-GNAC honors, the 10th-highest single-season batting average in program history.

SELLEVOLD AT THE PLATE…junior pitcher/third baseman Makinlee Sellevoldhas been the Vikings primary third baseman starting 22 of 33 games on the hot corner…ranks 3rd on the team and 15th in the GNAC batting .366 (37-for-101) with 5 doubles, 3 home runs and 17 RBI.

SELLEVOLD IN THE CIRCLE…Makinlee Sellevoldis 2-5 in 9 G/6 GS pitching this season…owns 39 career wins, tied for 4th-most in program history…also 6th with 60 career starts (5th is 66) and 8th with 199 strikeouts (7th is 234)…owns a career ERA of 3.12, 14th-best in program history.

SELLEVOLD NEARING 200 K’S…junior Makinlee Sellevoldis one strikeout short of 200 for her career…will become the eighth player in program history to reach the 200-strikeout milestone in a career, and first since Erika Quint in 2011…7th in program history in pitching appearances.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM…Anna Kasner and Shearyna Labasan were named to the 18-player All-Tournament Team at the Tournament of Champions…Kasner went 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA (2 ER, 16.2 IP) with 20 strikeouts in 3 games (2 starts) in the tournament, highlighted by a complete-game, 1hit shutout with 13 strikeouts against 7th-ranked Chico State…Labasan went 2-1, 1.24 ERA (3 ER, 17.0 IP) in the circle and led the team batting .438 (7-for-16) with 5 runs scored.

COACH SUITER…head coach Amy Suiter is in her seventh season at the helm of the program…owns an overall record of 180-159 (.531) at WWU and career head coaching record of 195-201 (.492)…led WWU to the 2015 GNAC Tournament title game…named the 2011 GNAC Coach of the Year, directing Vikings to 36-16 record, win total being school best, second place in GNAC and No. 5 seed at NCAA Division II Championships…native of Mount Vernon and played collegiately at the University of Washington.

GAME CHANGES…WWU will host Western Oregon in a doubleheader on Friday, April 21 at Viking Field, making up the postponed games that were rained out on March 12 in Monmouth…WOU will be the home team for the doubleheader…WWU will host SFU on April 25 in Bellingham (1 & 3 pm) in games that were originally scheduled for March 26 (rained out).

GRAND SLAMS…the Vikings have hit two grand slams this season, the 21st and 22nd in program history…hit two grand slams all last season:

Walk This Way: Emily Benson’s 27 walks are currently tied for 4th-most in WWU single-season history…record is 41 walks by Meghan Flem in 2010.

Keys to Success: WWU is 16-1 when out-hitting its opponent and 16-4 when scoring first…also 5-0 when hitting 2+ home runs in a game.

Strikeout Note:Anna Kasnerrecorded 13 strikeouts in her start April 2 vs. #7 Chico State…the Wildcats previous season high for strikeouts in a game was 7 in the second game of the year (vs. Western Oregon).